ET - ISSUE 2198 Friday 1 June 2001 Smokers face tough new laws in New Zealand
By Paul Chapman in Wellington

NEW ZEALAND announced yesterday some of the world's toughest anti-smoking laws, banishing the habit from bars, restaurants and casinos.

Under plans outlined by the Labour-led coalition, people will be allowed to smoke only in establishments that provide separate, ventilated smoking rooms. Opponents described the scheme as "fascist" and as the latest manifestation of a regime of political correctness in which "nanny state knows best".

Judy Keall, a Labour MP and chairman of parliament's health committee, said: "With 75 per cent of the adult population as non-smokers, it is time for the law to better reflect that smoke-free living is now the norm for most people."

Mrs Keall chose World No-Tobacco Day to announce the change in the law, saying it was aimed at restricting young people's access to tobacco products and providing more protection from passive smoking for the public and bar staff.

Licensed premises opening after Dec 31 will have to meet the restrictions, but existing businesses will have until 2007 to comply. The government is coming under pressure from the Greens, on whose support it relies for a majority in parliament, to implement the changes sooner.

The new law will also require cigarette packets to carry graphic photographs, such as a cancerous mouth, lungs and brain, or gangrenous body parts. Opponents described the pictures as "medical pornography".

Smokers and businesses vowed last night to fight the proposals, which will cost licensed premises millions of pounds to implement. Bar owners are also angry that social clubs, such as those for returned servicemen, will be exempt.

Peter Dunne, leader of the opposition United Future New Zealand Party, described the proposals as "fascist". They were also condemned by one of parliament's most celebrated smokers, Winston Peters, who leads the New Zealand First Party.

Analysts say the proposals would not have got as far as they have without the support of Helen Clark, the Prime Minister, a former health minister who is passionately anti-smoking.

Denmark's parliament approved by 57 votes to 48 a ban on all forms of advertising for cigarettes and other tobacco products. The only exemption under the law will be for foreign newspapers on sale in Denmark.

-- Anonymous, June 01, 2001